Phew! The Fayes Video sign board once again brings us back from the brink of collapse. This time by solving the age-old question of how toilet paper hangs from its holder. There is a right way and a wrong way. And now we have the proof.

Thanks, Fayes. Specifically for the photo by Mike, of the drawing by Alfonso.

In the interest of disclosure, I worked at Fayes in the years leading up to and immediately following the turn of the century.

The greatness of the signboard previously appeared here, here and here.

Say what you will about Clooney’s Pub on Valencia and 25th, but it’s got one thing the other, hipper bars in the area don’t have: a coin pusher game.

Remember dropping your mom’s hard-earned tokens into these at Chuck-E-Cheese while she sat at the table looking tired? This one, decorated with “Just for fun” decals, has a few $5 and $20 bills sprinkled in there too, upping the stakes.

We pumped at least $1.50′s worth “fun” into this baby before some dude outside used the brilliant strategy of “kicking it really hard”, which is in fact pretty easy to do considering it’s right next to the front door making for easy escape. Not that it mattered. Even after this thing let off a shrill alarm sound upon being assaulted, nobody (including the bartender) payed any mind and the guy casually collected his “winnings”.

He kicked it like 3 more times and probably made at least $3.50 for his trouble. Then he proceeded to play the game legitimately with his ill-gotten quarters, continuing the circle of life.

Jason from Popo’s Pizza, the new pizzeria on 24th and Bartlett, invited us down to taste their pizza and drink beer last night. We like pizza and beer. We also like free things. It was an offer we couldn’t refuse (stay tuned for another Godfather reference).

Here’s some general information: Popo’s got it’s start in West Oakland where it has received some undeniably good reviews. Pizza chef Charles Hopkins (who for some reason introduced himself as “Jay”) is a graduate from the SF Culinary Institute and he makes his dough fresh daily. They are closing up the West Oakland location and moving here. He won’t only be serving pizza, either. Jay seems to have a thing for rotisserie-ing every kind of animal, so expect that to come a few weeks after opening day. Apparently, he makes some killer ribs.

On to the pizza, which is what we all really care about right now. Jay’s pizzas are definitely his own creations. If you’re looking for the NY-style Arinell killer, you wont find it here. But hey, not all pizza needs to taste like New York, right? Besides, we already have an Arinell. Bagels, I would argue, do need to taste like NY.

I realize that unconventional ingredients like BBQ chicken, mango, squash, and fresh-sliced gouda scream “California Pizza Kitchen”, but I thought it was tasty and the ingredients were of surprisingly high quality. We sampled a few pies: “BBQ Pesto Chicken”, “Mango Prosciutto”, “Muzu”, and ”Ham and Smoked Gouda Goodness”.

When Jay rushed over to drizzle truffle oil over my slice claiming he forgot to do so earlier I said, “that’s cheating”. But I’m not one to turn truffle oil down, so I had him dump it on all my slices, thus deliciously contaminating my entire sample set. Some scientist I am. He also had a side of some pretty mind-blowing blue cheese on the side that I piled on just about everything.

Near the end of our visit, Jay brought out a surprise dessert of cannolis which were so good that I wouldn’t dream of leaving them in the car. Unfortunately, these don’t seem to be on the menu.

Overall, I really enjoyed the za. Nick and Lily thought it could have used some more salt. The guys from Mr. Pickle Sandwich Shop (who were also there for some reason) didn’t stop scarfing down slices long enough to say anything so I assume they liked it too.

That being said, it’s not a quick grab-and-go slice spot common to the area. Their smallest offering is a $7.50 personal 7″ pizza. All their pizzas are priced the same ranging from $22.50 for a 14″ to $26.50 for an 18″. Due to the thinness and softness of the crust, I don’t think it will fill you up as much as a similarly priced Zante pizza (my go-to take out pizza) but will definitely be an interesting departure in terms of flavors. However, their pies to come with free salad and dessert, so that’s a bonus.

The restaurant is still under construction, but they expect to open tomorrow (Friday). Here’s the menu: Page 1, Page 2.

Previously:

“They can be very selfish,” says a blond, pretty girl with glasses and a striped T-shirt at 780 Cafe. She doesn’t want to reveal her name, which is understandable, because she’s about to fiercely criticize almost all of her past techie dates and assert that she will avoid them in the future. She knows what she’s talking about, she says; she has not only dated a handful of techies, but has also worked for a tech company.

“They have a lot of money and are very stingy all the same. They think that what they’re doing is the most important thing in the world. They schedule girlfriends the way they would schedule meetings.” She defines them as “socially awkward,” a term she is not the only one to use.

Hot on the heels of our most recent gustatory adventures in fun food combinations, we present the perfect marriage of Asian and Latin cuisine. Take some of the tastiest and MSG-laden seaweed around and dip it in some of the best salsa our neighborhood has to offer (from La Palma of course), and voila! A pan-Pacific party for your palate!

Local filmmaker Kate Imbach just completed a short film about local modernist classical composer Christopher Fulkerson, who’s made his living driving a cab ever since work for composers dried up a couple decades back. He talks about how PCs vs. Macs (and pencils vs. computer programs) and the fall of the Soviet Union impacted his profession, and also drives the camera all around the Mission. See for yourself: